Stocks are taking a thumping today, as traders price in higher interest rates in the U.S. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is down 137 points to 8,138.

Volume is on the light side at 118.8 million shares, but it is decisively negative, with selling action outweighing the buying by a margin of five to one. Market breadth is similarly negative, with losers outnumbering winners by more than five to one.

Gold is the only sector that’s enjoying some safe haven buying. Elsewhere, stocks are being hit by an across-the-board repricing.

Energy stocks are down 3%, financials have dropped more than 1%, miners are off 2%, techs have dropped 2.6%, and REITs are almost 4% lower.

All the big names are down sharply today. Alcan has lost 2.6%, EnCana is off by 3.6%, Talisman Energy is more than 4% lower, and there is substantial weakness in Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Petro-Canada, Fording, PrimeWest, Northgate Exploration, NA Palladium and Sino-Forest.

Financial stocks are getting sucked into the downdraft, too. TD Bank is down 1.3%, CIBC is off by 1.4%, Manulife Financial, Scotiabank and Royal Bank are all down.

A huge loser in the financial group is the mortgage financier, Equitable Group, which has dropped 15% in light volume, despite reporting that net earnings grew 22% year over year to $3.03 million from $2.5 million in the first quarter of 2003.

Nortel is leading the tech group lower, down 2.8% in relatively modest volume. Telesystem International Wireless has dropped 7.5%.

The speculative juice is being also being bled out of the biotechs. Oncolytics Biotech is down more than 11%.TLC Vision has lost 10.6% after reporting a first quarter 2004 net profit of $8.1 million, up from $1.1 million for the same period a year ago, and compares with a loss of $2.9 million per share last quarter.

Golds are the only thing rallying in this broad bloodletting, as traders seek refuge there. Placer Dome is up 1.1% and Barrick has gained a similar amount. Glamis is up 3%, and there are solid gains in names such as Newmont Mining, Agnico-Eagle, Wheaton River Minerals, Meridian Gold, Iamgold and Pan American Silver.

In M&A news, Argo Energy is buying Energy North for approximately $50.4 million, including $11 million of assumed net debt with the balance in new Argo common shares.

Precision Drilling has reached an agreement with the board of directors of Reeves Oilfield Services Limited on the terms of a cash offer to acquire Reeves for $218 million. It may sell up to $1 billion in securities to finance acquisitions.

On the earnings front, Ensign Resource Service Group has posted net income of $53.3 million, a 37% increase over the first quarter of the prior year.

CryptoLogic said that its first quarter earnings grew 116% to $3.8 million over the same period in 2003 and ahead of analysts’ average consensus expectations.

Harris Steel Group Inc. reported that earnings reached $12.3 million in its first quarter.

TransAlta Power had net income of $11.9 million, compared with $4.7 million for the same period in 2003.

Procyon Biopharma incurred a net loss of $3,039,275 for the first quarter of 2004, compared with a net loss of $1,652,320 for the same quarter last year.

Labopharm said its net loss for the quarter was $7,569,000, compared with $7,817,000 for the quarter in 2003.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average is bouncing off intra-day lows, but it is nevertheless back below the 10,000 mark for the first time since December. At midday, the Dow had dropped 153 points to 9,964. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index is down 31 points to 1,887.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index is getting swept up in the selling, too, losing 47 points to 1568. Volume is average at 28.7 million shares. Stratic Energy is the day’s top trader, up 6.7% to 40¢ on 1.35 million shares.